ЦАПы — Aries Cerat Kassandra Sig

Sold under the full name Kassandra Signature, the Kassandra Sig is a two-chassis ladder DAC made by Aries Cerat, and it forms the entry point to the Kassandra line below the Limited Edition. Its layout follows the same two-box approach the company uses for the amplifiers in its Signature range, and conversion is carried out by a resistor network switched according to the bit depth. The UK list price is GBP 49,450.

Key specs that matter

At the core is the Analog Devices AD1865N-K R2R chip, with 20 converters per channel in banks of 10, for 40 chips across both channels. Conversion is parallel switched resistor ladder, and no digital filter is used. Signal enters through a USB input that handles PCM up to 24-bit and 384 kHz, and the output reaches 30 V peak-to-peak at 0 dB. A balanced output is offered as an option. Each chassis is 540 mm wide, 350 mm deep and 165 mm high, and the pair of chassis weighs 80 kg in total.

Engineering and use context

Following the chips, a single-ended tube amplifier forms the analogue section, with one E280F per channel in triode connection. The tube is loaded by a large-core 5 to 1 step-down transformer, and its supply is regulated by an oversized choke with double choke filtering. Aries Cerat selected the E280F for its transconductance, plate impedance, linearity and noise figures compared with other small-signal tubes. Power is drawn from four toroidal transformers, and total system capacitance is above 2 farad. The converter banks draw from eight separate low-noise regulators, and xenon gas rectifiers are used for the tube supplies, so rectification in the power supply is done by tubes. Local decoupling relies on 30 LC filters built from RF chokes and high-speed capacitors. An internal Super-Clock is fitted and can be bypassed when an external clock arrangement is preferred, and the maker states that jitter is attenuated down to femtosecond levels.

Pairing

USB is the listed input, so the source is a computer or streamer with a USB output. Buyers who plan to run balanced cables to a preamplifier need to specify the optional balanced output when ordering. Within the brand, amplification comes from ranges such as the Signature series, whose two-chassis layout the Kassandra Signature shares, and the Ianus TriodeFet monoblocks.

Alternatives

The Aries Cerat Kassandra LE steps up with 24 AD1865N-K converters per channel, five toroidal transformers, deeper 530 mm chassis and a total weight of 120 kg.